DETROIT -- After the euphoria of scoring in the fourth overtime finally faded, Dallas' Brenden Morrow felt the effects of logging 51 minutes of ice time and registering 19 hits in the decisive Game 6 playoff victory over San Jose Sunday.

"It felt like two games' worth of hitting," Morrow said. "Body was a little drained. Every time you (sat) down in the chair, it was pretty tough getting up, just losing all those fluids, aches and pains. ... It was grueling playing that many minutes, trying to play the same way, play physical. It took its toll, but it was well worth it."

After having three days to recharge, the Detroit Red Wings can expect Morrow to be just as relentless and as difficult to deal with when they face the Stars in the Western Conference finals, starting Thursday at Joe Louis Arena.

While Detroit's Johan Franzen was rewriting the record books with his goal-scoring binge against Colorado in the last round, Morrow likewise has been a force in the postseason. Though not as big as Franzen, Morrow is a hard-nosed left winger who is difficult to contain around the net, a scoring threat, a punishing checker and the team leader as a second-year captain.

"He's their heart and soul," Franzen said. "He plays hard every night. He's got a really hard body. He's not that big, but he hits hard. He takes the puck to the net and you have to be ready for him."

Red Wings forward Aaron Downey, who played with Morrow for two seasons in Dallas, said, "I think Brenden Morrow is becoming probably the premier power forward in the league by the looks of his playoffs. Look at the development of Johan Franzen, it's the same situation with Brenden. He's doing it at both ends of the ice."

Morrow leads the Stars with seven playoff goals, including that power-play effort at 9:03 of quadruple-overtime. He leads all players with 66 hits, including a devastating shoulder check that knocked Milan Michalek out of Sunday's game at the end of regulation.

"He wants to hunt you down a little bit on the ice," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "That's the player most people would like to have on their team."

"It's been a long time since I've seen a player have as much of an impact on a series as Brendan had," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "When you see a player play that hard, that determined, willing to do whatever it takes, whether it's finding a big hit, blocking a shot, scoring a goal, that's very infectious within your group."

Through two rounds against Nashville and Colorado, the Red Wings haven't faced a forward this difficult to play against.

"We've got to match his work ethic. That's the key," Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "He's not huge (5-11, 205), but he's strong on his feet. He's got one of the biggest hearts in the league and passion for the sport. That's something we have to match to be able to contain him."

Stars goaltender Marty Turco called Morrow "a consummate leader."

"What he does is demand the puck, demand to be good and make his next shift the best one possible," Turco said. "To say it's contagious is an understatement. It's something that we're going to continue to need from him and from everybody else to follow suit. It's one thing to say things in the locker room as a leader, to inspire and try to encourage players, but it's another thing to get out there and actually do it."

Morrow promises to forecheck just as hard and be just as physical against the Red Wings as he was against Anaheim and San Jose in the first two rounds.

"It's tough to get a good lick on (defensemen Nicklas) Lidstrom or (Brian) Rafalski. They're pretty good puck-movers," Morrow said. "Our plan is to attack, get pucks in areas where we can force turnovers, get some pressure on them. It's finishing checks on (Henrik) Zetterberg, trying to get in people's way, slow them down a little bit. That's going to be our focus against this team."